WATERBURY -- A suspected member of the Latin Kings street gang is being held on a $3 million bond after he was transported back to the city from Puerto Rico to face a murder charge.

A court official said Monday that Luis Colon Ortega, a 25-year-old man who went on the run after the killing of Danny "City" Gonzalez last year on Willow Street, has been arrested for murder in the past.

Gonzalez, 40, was shot repeatedly while driving a Saturn on Willow Street on April 29. Police say Ortega was the triggerman. It took about seven months for Ortega to be transported back to Connecticut, where he was charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

Ortega, a tattooed man wearing a loose-fitting white T-shirt and a chain around his waist, was arraigned Monday in Waterbury Superior Court. He bowed his head while a Spanish interpreter translated the brief proceeding for him, but said nothing publicly.

Senior prosecutor John Davenport said Ortega has "tenuous" ties with Connecticut and was only in the state a short time before he killed Gonzalez.

A court bail commissioner said Ortega doesn't have a criminal record in the state, but was charged with murder and counterfeiting in Puerto Rico, among other crimes. It's unclear how or when those cases were resolved.

Ortega and a suspected accomplice, Tomas "Bebe" Rivera, both of whom are suspected Latin Kings, went on the run after police identified them as being in the car with Gonzalez at the time of his killing.

In the minutes leading up to the 1 a.m. slaying, Ortega and Rivera, 29, had planned to rob a Willow Street bodega with a gun that Gonzalez had given to Ortega for the job, according court documents. Police suspect Gonzalez had stolen that Glock pistol earlier in the night from a woman on Dalton Avenue.

The store was closed by the time the men made their way to Willow Street, but when Gonzalez picked them up in the Saturn and asked for his gun back, the car erupted in gunfire, according to court documents.

Witnesses in the Saturn with Gonzalez described seeing him drive the car, then watching as Ortega pulled the gun from his waistband, racked back the slide and repeatedly fired into Gonzalez as he sat behind him. The Saturn slammed into several parked cars when Ortega turned the wheel as Gonzalez slumped forward. The men fled from the car after the killing.

Days before the robbery, a witness told police Gonzalez was drunk and pointed a gun at Ortega, but apologized later. It's that incident that may have led Ortega to kill Gonzalez.

Rivera and Ortega talked about the killing to several people, but Ortega threatened and beat one of the witnesses, telling one woman that she and her children would be killed if she talked about what happened. Police eventually pieced the case together through multiple interviews.

Rivera was found hiding in a closet at a home in Waterbury, while Ortega made it to Puerto Rico before being captured by authorities. Ortega has been held there since May while other charges have been pending against him.

Rivera is being held on bonds totaling $350,000. Ortega is due back in court later this month. If they're convicted, both men face up to 60 years in prison.

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